Night fell.
Brother Huang sat cross-legged on his bed, wrapped in a quilt, his hair disheveled and dark circles ringing his eyes. He looked as weak as someone who had just been carried out after battling for three days and nights in a pink-lit establishment.
Still, there was nothing wrong with Brother Huang's work ethic. Once Ren Ye returned, he briefed him on the progress of opening trade.
As agreed, the caravan would return to Qingliang Prefecture on the fifteenth of this month. By then, they would have prices for the samples of precious materials, along with information on their neighbors in the Southern Border.
At present, roughly three days remained until the caravan returned.
Aside from that, Brother Huang had begun stockpiling medicinal ingredients according to the prescription Old Taoist Xu had left before departing. Once the funds arrived, he planned to treat the more than twenty-six thousand soldiers taken into their ranks from the Imperial Court. For now, he had stationed them in the camp south of Prince Huai's Residence, keeping them from interacting with the Qingzhou Guard and ordinary civilians. This effectively prevented the two sides from becoming hostile and frequently coming to blows.
Ren Ye asked about the details of several important matters. He felt Brother Huang's arrangements were perfectly sound and very reasonable, so he did not want to disturb him any further. He merely offered a few quiet words of comfort. "Brother Huang, get some rest. Don't let anything weigh on your mind. If... one day you really can't hold on anymore and pass away, Qingliang Prefecture will still have me. I'll inherit your equity stake."
After hearing that, Brother Huang sat on the bed and berated Ren Ye for nearly fifteen minutes before falling sound asleep again.
Qingliang Prefecture had far too